Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a medical needle used, for example, for blood collection, blood transfusion, or fluid infusion.
Background Art
A medical needle that is used, for example, for blood collection, blood transfusion, or fluid infusion while being connected, for example, to a blood collection device, a blood transfusion set, or a fluid infusion set of a blood bag or a blood processing circuit (such as an apheresis circuit, or a hemodialysis circuit) is known. The medical needle described above generally includes a needle body having a sharp needle tip on the front end, and a hub provided on the base end of the needle body. When a used medical needle is disposed, it is necessary to cover the needle body in order to prevent the person who disposes the needle from carelessly touching the needle body. In light of the foregoing, a medical needle including a protector capable of covering the used needle body has been proposed (e.g., refer to JP 3134920 B1).
The winged indwelling needle (medical needle) disclosed in JP 3134920 B1 includes a cannula (needle body), a hub provided on the base end of the cannula, and a holding pipe (protector) configured to house and hold the hub therein. The front end of the cannula supported with the hub can slide from a first position in which the front end of the cannula protrudes from the front end of the holding pipe to a second position in which the front end of the cannula is housed in the holding pipe along the inner wall of the holding pipe. A first engaging unit configured to releasably seize the hub at the first position of the holding pipe and a second engaging unit configured to substantially unreleasably seize the hub at the second position of the holding pipe are provided between the hub and the holding pipe.
When the medical needle is used, the user holds the trunk (the holding pipe in JP 3134920 B1) of the medical needle with the fingers to insert the needle body into the patient's skin. In that case, if the trunk of the medical needle has an appropriate small diameter, it is easy to stabilize the needle tip because the user readily holds the trunk. Also, it is easy to accurately insert the needle into a hard blood vessel or a thin blood vessel.
However, when the winged indwelling needle disclosed in JP 3134920 B1 is used, the front end of the hub is inserted into the position of the front end of the holding pipe. This makes it difficult to narrow the holding pipe that is the trunk.